Shaun Smith Convicted UK SCAMMER

Shaun Smith much like fellow UK Scammer http://www.realscam.com/f16/simon-stepsys-3342/ earns his living getting people to sign up for the crap he is pitching. What he does not do is suss out great opportunities that will provide lasting residual income. For this thread my goal is explore some of his previous endeavors so we get to see how things turned out for people downwind from Shaun.

Whether we use the term, Ponzi, Pyramid, or Endless Recruiting, below is some reading from the FTC on the subject. Setting aside the illegality of these ventures, most people end up losing money as the world runs out to people to recruit. People like Shaun Smith and Simon Stepsys get in early because they have large sucker lists to market to. Then they have friends that get the call, and those friends have friends, then an "opportunity" is ready to launch to the public. Most if not all of the higher ups in these scams know very well they are promoting a Pyramid that will collapse. If they don't know, they are too stupid to be giving money advice. Take your pick, either way it is fresh money from suckers thinking they have finally found a mentor with a real business that keeps these schemes going, for a while...

Pyramid schemes now come in so many forms that they may be difficult to recognize immediately. However, they all share one overriding characteristic. They promise consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to the public. Some schemes may purport to sell a product, but they often simply use the product to hide their pyramid structure. There are two tell-tale signs that a product is simply being used to disguise a pyramid scheme: inventory loading and a lack of retail sales. Inventory loading occurs when a company's incentive program forces recruits to buy more products than they could ever sell, often at inflated prices. If this occurs throughout the company's distribution system, the people at the top of the pyramid reap substantial profits, even though little or no product moves to market. The people at the bottom make excessive payments for inventory that simply accumulates in their basements. A lack of retail sales is also a red flag that a pyramid exists. Many pyramid schemes will claim that their product is selling like hot cakes. However, on closer examination, the sales occur only between people inside the pyramid structure or to new recruits joining the structure, not to consumers out in the general public

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In this Video Shaun is nice enough to earn a commission sponsoring you, the rest well let's let Shaun's history speak for itself.

Re: Shaun Smith Convicted UK SCAMMER

Two men who conspired to defraud thousands of unsuspecting home-workers out of more than £1m have each been jailed for five years.

Shaun Smith and Craig Bradley were found guilty at Stafford Crown Court last month of various charges of plotting to defraud home-workers from across the UK.

Passing sentence at the court on Wednesday, the judge described the men as "callous swindlers".

A third man, Ralph Blore, was given a two-year jail term after the judge heard he had conned the public out of about £150,000 over a two-year period.

'Fraudulent businesses'

The court heard the men ran companies which took money from people who wanted to work from home.

They operated from offices in the Staffordshire village of Wheaton Aston.

Court recorder Alan Pardoe QC said the offences were particularly serious because a large number of those hoodwinked were in dire financial straights.

The judge told Smith and Bradley that the companies they set up were carefully designed to defraud members of the public and to persuade them they were being offered opportunities to do interesting work for which they would be paid handsomely.

A website for an online homeworking system, stated “Shaun Smith Online Is Exposing An Amazing ... But True System, Showing You How To Make £10,000-£30,000+ A Month ... Let Me Show You How To Make Over £30K A Month FREE... I Will Show Step By Step How To Make £1000+ A Week ... Get Unlimited Amounts Of FREE Products And Services And Make Money”.
Issue

The complainant, who saw the ad on 12 July and did not believe the likely levels of earnings could be substantiated, challenged whether they were misleading.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
20.43.13.113.33.73.9

Response

Shaun Smith said he supplied a free e-book about how he made £10,000 to £30,000 a month from many different income streams. He said this was not a homeworking scheme but a business opportunity. He attached a number of screenshots which he said indicated that, between 1 July and 31 July 2008, 1 January and 31 January 2010, 1 April and 30 April 2010, 1 January and 31 January 2011 and 1 August and 23 August 2011, transactions for the net value of between £10,279.28 and £32,070.49 were successfully deposited into a personal account with an accounting information system. He also submitted screenshots of a general report document which he said showed that between 1 August and 23 August 2011 a profit of £2,231.18 had been achieved, an account home page that showed that weekly sales on 24 August 2011 was $137.52, a page that stated “Total Estimated Earnings = $294.24”, a “Transfer Commissions” document that showed that, on 5 August 2011 $638 was earned and on 12 August $162 was earned, and an online e-commerce account which showed that, during August, various monies were transferred into a bank account. He said they showed the money he had earned from various income streams and therefore substantiated the quoted earnings.
Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered the ad implied that earnings of £10,000 to £30,000 a month were representative of the amounts that consumers could achieve each month. We noted that, although the “Transfer Commission” and “Estimated Earnings” screenshots quoted earnings, they did not provide evidence that transactions had been carried out or that similar earnings had been achieved by others enrolled in the scheme. We noted the screenshots of the accounting information system provided details about five monthly transactions that had been completed since 2008. However, we noted only two of these related to the last 12 months and showed that transactions relating to less than £12,000 and £8,000 had been successful. We noted some of the screenshots showed that monies had been deposited or withdrawn during August 2011 but did not consider that these provided adequate evidence to demonstrate that, on 12 July 2011, consumers could achieve £10,000 to £30,000 each month. Furthermore, we noted we had not received any evidence of how the money was obtained, or that the money had resulted from participation in the business opportunity offered by Shaun Smith. We considered that Shaun Smith had not shown that the earnings claims were representative of the likely returns a consumer could expect. We concluded that the ad was misleading.

Re: Shaun Smith Convicted UK SCAMMER

If something involves "endless recruiting" for new participants and their money it's at a minimum a bad business model if not an outright scam. One could argue that an MLM like Amway endlessly recruits and has been around for fifty years. Still, 95%+++ of Amway distributors lose money after time and expenses every year. That is a tough path to walk unless you are a super recruiter Shocking MLM statistics.

Shaun Smith thought it was the cats ass, even did this lovely write-up.

Endless recruiting = Bullshit Opportunity. Maybe the authorities shut it down, maybe the funds just dry up. Who cares why if your money disappears? Zeek was a mess, people went to prison, many lost money. Shaun walked away with his commissions like nothing ever happened.

Shaun Smith – a resident of Bridgnorth who stole $262,900 under one or more usernames, including “topincometeam”

"Pyramid schemes are inherently injurious to consumers because as a mathematical certainty, they are doomed to collapse. As in the case of chain letters that require a payment, only the people at the very top make any money.

The only way anybody can make money through a pyramid scheme or chain letter is if participants in levels below them are defrauded into giving money based upon a rapidly diminishing promise of eventually getting something in return.

Eventually they must break down because the pool of possible recruits becomes exhausted and recruitment stops. Those at the bottom of the pyramid, the vast majority of the participants, lose money because there is no one below them."

Re: Shaun Smith Convicted UK SCAMMER

A lot if not all of these fuckos like to toss around "passive income" or "residual income" and pan actually working and earning for an income. These gurus would be a little more credible if they had started a business ten years ago and have been sitting on the beach ever since. Can't do that, they have jobs, roping suckers for fresh dough. If they don't have a passive income, what on earth gives them the idea they are skilled enough to show anyone else?

Re: Shaun Smith Convicted UK SCAMMER

Empower versus Neucopia like asking would you rather be kicked in the Nads or have your nipples waxed with a cheese grater? It don't matter Shaun will be happy to earn a commission on whatever scam you choose.